Investigating Cemeteries

[Buddharat]

Hey there everyone,

I'm extremely new to this forum (just about a hour ago I joined) and I came on to get some insight into the world of the unknown as well as share some of my ideas. One thing I've been thinking long and hard about is paranormal investigation in cemeteries.

Just recently, I started a paranormal group. (We're so new in fact, we haven't decided upon a name). At the moment, I'm trying to get the newer members acclimated to investigating possibly haunted places. I would probably die of embarresment if one of my fellow investigators ran out of someone's house screaming because they saw a ghost. This brings my to my problem. I don't know of any super haunted locations that are accessible to put the newer members into (the founding members have all come from living in haunted houses, so we aren't less frightened). I was listening to an interview (god I can't remember where, I listen to as many as I can) and the guest gave the advice to fledgeling paranormal societies to put their members into cemeteries, because that way they can learn to deal with potentually frightning locations without having to deal with clients. This makes sense, but I'm not sure if morally its right to run into a cemetery and walk over someone's dead relaitives, just to learn how not to be scared.

I'd truly have to say that I'm not sure what to do. One side of me says it makes sense, the other says it's not right. What does everyone else think? Of course, finding a cemetery that will let you in after dark is always something to consider, so for the sake of this discussion, I'm leaving out the legal end of it. I would just like to see people's opinions as to whether they think that a group should do go into a cemetery or not?

Thank you very much and I just want to say that for only being a member for a few hours, I love the forum. One of the most informative ones I've seen.

Thanks,

~V

[Pythia]

Go ahead, go to the cemeteries. Think of it this way, when you are dead, are you going to care who walks on your grave or visits you?

It's not like you plan on digging up graves or desecrating them. As long as you're not destroying anything, who cares?

This is strictly my opinion of course, and you will probably get several that contradict it shortly. Welcome to the board!

[unassuming]

Go ahead...they always enjoy company

[DianneG]

Hey there everyone,

I'm extremely new to this forum (just about a hour ago I joined) and I came on to get some insight into the world of the unknown as well as share some of my ideas. One thing I've been thinking long and hard about is paranormal investigation in cemeteries.

Just recently, I started a paranormal group. (We're so new in fact, we haven't decided upon a name). At the moment, I'm trying to get the newer members acclimated to investigating possibly haunted places. I would probably die of embarresment if one of my fellow investigators ran out of someone's house screaming because they saw a ghost. This brings my to my problem. I don't know of any super haunted locations that are accessible to put the newer members into (the founding members have all come from living in haunted houses, so we aren't less frightened). I was listening to an interview (god I can't remember where, I listen to as many as I can) and the guest gave the advice to fledgeling paranormal societies to put their members into cemeteries, because that way they can learn to deal with potentually frightning locations without having to deal with clients. This makes sense, but I'm not sure if morally its right to run into a cemetery and walk over someone's dead relaitives, just to learn how not to be scared.

I'd truly have to say that I'm not sure what to do. One side of me says it makes sense, the other says it's not right. What does everyone else think? Of course, finding a cemetery that will let you in after dark is always something to consider, so for the sake of this discussion, I'm leaving out the legal end of it. I would just like to see people's opinions as to whether they think that a group should do go into a cemetery or not?

Thank you very much and I just want to say that for only being a member for a few hours, I love the forum. One of the most informative ones I've seen.

Thanks,

~V

[DianneG]

HELLO & WELCOME,

VISITING A CEMETERY IS NO DIFFERENT THAN WALKING DOWN THE STREET; ASTRALS ARE EVERYWHERE! YOU NEED ONLY USE DUE RESPECT AND IF ANYTHING, YOU ARE GIVING THEM NOTICE, ACCEPTANCE AND RECOGNITION; WHICH IS WHAT WE ALL APPRECIATE. REMEMBER THOUGH, THEY ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN THEY EVER WERE WHEN THEY WERE LIVING EXCEPT THEY NO LONGER HAVE A BODY. AND THAT I MEAN LITERALLY. IF THE ASTRAL WAS A NICE PERSON DURING THEIR LIFETIME, THEY WILL BE NOW; ON THE OTHER HAND, IF THEY WERE MEAN OR EVIL, AGAIN, THEY WILL STILL BE MEAN AND OR EVIL. ALSO, SOONER OR LATER YOU JUST MIGHT COME ACROSS SOMETHING OF A NON-HUMAN NATURE AND OF COURSE THIS COULD BE SCARY OR EVEN DANGEROUS. PLEASE, WHATEVER YOU DO, SAY A PRAYER OF PROTECTION BEFORE YOU GO AND ANOTHER BEFORE YOU LEAVE, BEING SURE TO SAY IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS THAT THE ENTITIES ARE TO STAY WHERE THEY ARE AND ARE NOT TO FOLLOW YOU HOME. SOMETHING I TELL EVERYONE IS "IT'S NOT SEEING IS BELIEVING, IT'S BELIEVING IS SEEING." I KNOW THE MORE I SEARCH, THE MORE I FIND. BE SAFE!! DIANNE

Edited September 11, 2007 by DianneG

[S.P.P.I.]

Hey there everyone,

I'm extremely new to this forum (just about a hour ago I joined) and I came on to get some insight into the world of the unknown as well as share some of my ideas. One thing I've been thinking long and hard about is paranormal investigation in cemeteries.

Just recently, I started a paranormal group. (We're so new in fact, we haven't decided upon a name). At the moment, I'm trying to get the newer members acclimated to investigating possibly haunted places. I would probably die of embarresment if one of my fellow investigators ran out of someone's house screaming because they saw a ghost. This brings my to my problem. I don't know of any super haunted locations that are accessible to put the newer members into (the founding members have all come from living in haunted houses, so we aren't less frightened). I was listening to an interview (god I can't remember where, I listen to as many as I can) and the guest gave the advice to fledgeling paranormal societies to put their members into cemeteries, because that way they can learn to deal with potentually frightning locations without having to deal with clients. This makes sense, but I'm not sure if morally its right to run into a cemetery and walk over someone's dead relaitives, just to learn how not to be scared.

I'd truly have to say that I'm not sure what to do. One side of me says it makes sense, the other says it's not right. What does everyone else think? Of course, finding a cemetery that will let you in after dark is always something to consider, so for the sake of this discussion, I'm leaving out the legal end of it. I would just like to see people's opinions as to whether they think that a group should do go into a cemetery or not?

Thank you very much and I just want to say that for only being a member for a few hours, I love the forum. One of the most informative ones I've seen.

Thanks,

~V

Dear~V,

I just recently started a new group here in South Philly---My groups name is SouthPhiladelphia Paranormal Team.I also have new equipment.We go to cemetary's,residents,historical place.Not one of us has a car---we do it all on foot,subway,bus.It's ok to go to the cemetary's.I wou;dn't steer you wrong.I've been investigaing ghosts since I was very young.I grew up in a house with paranormal activity.So,what's not normal to some,is normal to me.Go to myspace page.I also have a group forum there you can join if you'd like.Just go under groups--Religion and Beliefs and you'll see my forum.My myspace is Stormy 128.Look at the orbs in the cemetery--St.Peter's.Looking forward hearing from you!

[JackalnChainz]

My associate made a small mini tripod out of some coathangers and table cloth clamps for picnic tables. We mounted this tripod to a large metal mixing bowl (about 15 inches) and rigged an omni directional microphone in the center, facing down into the bowl, effectively creating a very large and sensitive parabolic reflector. Now to have some fun, take this easily made and cheap to build device to the cemetary, and leave it for awhile. Prop the bowl up on one side and aim it into the cemetary and plug the mic into a recorder.

[Buddharat]

My associate made a small mini tripod out of some coathangers and table cloth clamps for picnic tables. We mounted this tripod to a large metal mixing bowl (about 15 inches) and rigged an omni directional microphone in the center, facing down into the bowl, effectively creating a very large and sensitive parabolic reflector. Now to have some fun, take this easily made and cheap to build device to the cemetary, and leave it for awhile. Prop the bowl up on one side and aim it into the cemetary and plug the mic into a recorder.

That's extremely interesting. Being a musicians I dabble in different ways to record sound and that one is something I've definately have to try. Just one question, with the increased sensitivity, how great is the chance of outside contamenents messing with the results?

[Regency]

Welcome to UM.

I know where you're coming from. I'm thinking of visiting a historically rich cemetary nearby, but there is a little pull in me that says I shouldn't. When I go I want to take my camera, it's a really old cemetary and there haven't been burials there for many, many years I believe. On paper, yes why not - it's a head and heart situation, my head says, yes it's fine - but I have little twang of conciousness telling me I shouldn't.

After a recent burial of a really close family member, I was visiting the cemetary and it was run amock with school children. The grave I was visiting was a childs grave and it had toys on it, and of course the children gravitated towards it. The vicar said he asked the school children along because he believes it was a good initiative to prevent these children growing into teens who misuse the churchyard. For all I could understand his logic, it just seemed really wrong to me - in fact there were a couple of other people visiting their loved ones graves and they were not too happy about it either.

I don't know about a large group desending on a cemetary, it would depend how many of you there are. You could always ask permission and what would be the best time for you to visit. I would say that you should stick to the older end of the cemetaries rather than where people have recently been buried.

For saying all this - I really like looking at the cemetary photos that are posted here, they're my favourites, and cemetaries in general are fascinating... talk about contradicting myself. I think it's called having your cake and eating it.

[Arcana]

Hi Buddharat, I feel you have raised a very important moral question here for number of reasons. My advice, for what it's worth, is investigating cemetaries is fine provided that :

1) You are respectful (do NOT go trudging over peoples graves if you can help it) at all times.

2) Do not try to force the issue, only invite contact, so as not to disturb those who wish to remain at peace.

3) Only visit cemetaries that are open, don't go climbing any walls or scaling any gates.

4) Ensure you perform protection in the usual manner first & if any contact results in spirits telling you your presence is not wanted, politely leave.

[The_Spartan]

Hell....my window in the appartment building overlooks a khabaristan (urdu/arabic for cemetery) where muslims are buried. In nights, i usually sleep by 12.00 or 1.00, i eagerly go to the balcony to look into the cemetery to see anything unusual....

nothing happens...i have seen absolutely nothing..so far.....

the only thing that has ever happened in a paranormal way was the door bell in my house ringing when there was no power (its another thread)...thats all

why does these hauntings, paranormal wstuff all happen to others.????? why not me????

Edited September 11, 2007 by coredrill

[Arcana]

Hell....my window in the appartment building overlooks a khabaristan (urdu/arabic for cemetery) where muslims are buried. In nights, i usually sleep by 12.00 or 1.00, i eagerly go to the balcony to look into the cemetery to see anything unusual....

nothing happens...i have seen absolutely nothing..so far.....

the only thing that has ever happened in a paranormal way was the door bell in my house ringing when there was no power (its another thread)...thats all

why does these hauntings, paranormal wstuff all happen to others.????? why not me????

If you saw a stranger from a distance coredrill, would you expect them to suddenly come over to you & start chatting?

You would need to be closer & attempting to make contact...... even then, if you are not sensitive to spirit, you may not pick up on what is happening around you. Many times I have been on investigations, where nothing out of the usual appeared to happen, only to find intriguing anomalies when I looked at the pictures I'd taken.

Edited September 11, 2007 by Arcana

[The_Spartan]

I will take a pic of the cemetery tonight....let me see...

[Episteme]

Hi Buddharat, I feel you have raised a very important moral question here for number of reasons. My advice, for what it's worth, is investigating cemetaries is fine provided that :

1) You are respectful (do NOT go trudging over peoples graves if you can help it) at all times.

2) Do not try to force the issue, only invite contact, so as not to disturb those who wish to remain at peace.

3) Only visit cemetaries that are open, don't go climbing any walls or scaling any gates.

4) Ensure you perform protection in the usual manner first & if any contact results in spirits telling you your presence is not wanted, politely leave.

I think this is very good advice, though I'd be at a loss with #4.

The way I see it, when I pass I couldn't imagine I'd mind. I, as everyone does, have many close to me in cemeteries and it wouldn't bother me a bit having paranormal groups going there. I'd actually be interested in the results and would be glad to see them out there, especially if they were taking pictures and evp.

There's always the slim chance there will be some party pooper that might yell at you guys, so it's probably best to decide ahead of time how to handle that situation and discuss it with everyone in the group so nobody flies off the handle if something like that were to arise. The more "official" you look, the less chance there is that something like that will happen. Sounds silly, but it's true. Don't sneak, be bold! I've had to roam in some weird places scouting locations for commercials and nobody messed with me because I had a nametag, clipboard, and camera and I looked like I didn't care what they thought.

[Buddharat]

I really appriciate everyones advice. It's helping me out a lot. One thing I forgot specify is that I'm worried about the deceased relatives. Do you think it will offend them? For people who aren't so open to ghosts and the paranormal, would it be offensive to them?

Everything so far has been great, sorry to add this question on but with how much help I'm getting, I figured it would be good to add this. Thanks.

[Arcana]

I really appriciate everyones advice. It's helping me out a lot. One thing I forgot specify is that I'm worried about the deceased relatives. Do you think it will offend them? For people who aren't so open to ghosts and the paranormal, would it be offensive to them?

Everything so far has been great, sorry to add this question on but with how much help I'm getting, I figured it would be good to add this. Thanks.

It is highly unlikely that you will be interrupting anyone if you go late at night Buddharat & so long as you are respectful & not causing a commotion, why should anyone object any more than if you were there during the day? If anyone should happen by that asks you to leave, you can always politely oblige to avoid causing any offence.

I think this is very good advice, though I'd be at a loss with #4.

The reason I included 4), is that whilst I respect your view on how you think you would feel about it now Episteme, in death, as in life, we are all different & have different views. I have been on an investigation before & while using a Ouija board to make contact, been told that the spirit was disturbed & blinded by our cliks? I thought about this & asked if they meant the camera flashes & the planchette flew to yes. We apologised for this & asked for forgiveness & the spirit remained in contact with us for some time.......even in death you catch more flies with honey lol!

Aggrovating spirits & trying to force the issue if we are told our presence is not wanted, IMO, is selfish & can result in a negative outcome i.e. spirits attaching themselves to you (if you're not properly protected) & following you home to give you a taste of your own medicine. Those that wish to remain at rest should be allowed to do so, if they wish to interact with us on the other hand, then all well & good.

Edited September 13, 2007 by Arcana

[Episteme]

The reason I included 4), is that whilst I respect your view on how you think you would feel about it now Episteme, in death, as in life, we are all different & have different views. I have been on an investigation before & while using a Ouija board to make contact, been told that the spirit was disturbed & blinded by our cliks? I thought about this & asked if they meant the camera flashes & the planchette flew to yes. We apologised for this & asked for forgiveness & the spirit remained in contact with us for some time.......even in death you catch more flies with honey lol!

Ooooh, a weeeejee! Don't you love how I spelled it wrong just to bug people? Hey, I could have used a Q!

Well, that I could do, and have, at night, with a frightening result. I've posted it in this section somewhere. It's kind of funny because we had the opposite of what we're discussing, it was begging us to stay and we wanted to GO! Beyond that I would be at a loss. I was thinking more along the lines of the other things people do who are way more in tune with the paranormal than myself. Using psychic abilities, protective spells, that type of thing. I'm clueless, but that's ok because no more (dare I?) Quija board at night in graveyards for me.

[Regency]

It is highly unlikely that you will be interrupting anyone if you go late at night Buddharat & so long as you are respectful & not causing a commotion, why should anyone object any more than if you were there during the day? If anyone should happen by that asks you to leave, you can always politely oblige to avoid causing any offence.

Aggrovating spirits & trying to force the issue if we are told our presence is not wanted, IMO, is selfish & can result in a negative outcome i.e. spirits attaching themselves to you (if you're not properly protected) & following you home to give you a taste of your own medicine. Those that wish to remain at rest should be allowed to do so, if they wish to interact with us on the other hand, then all well & good.

This seems like sound advice to me.

How many people are thinking of going in your group?

[LIPI Rob]

I've never had a problem with investigating cemeteries. There can be a lot history in them if you look around. Normally my organization goes to them at night when there isn't anyone else around. However, upon occasions where I've gone during the day, I've always done my best to respectful and if I saw people going to visit a loved one I would leave that area so as to not offend them.

[Pythia]

When we go during the day, my niece and I, always stop at each stone (these are small cemeteries) and read each name, if it is legible, and the dates. Sort of paying our respects. Then I let her do the math to figure out how old they were, she's 10 and she needs the practice, I don't.

When we go back at night to "investigate" she insists that we bring flowers and we put a flower on each grave that doesn't already have one.

Everytime we've been to a cemetery, we have been alone there. If we were to go and there were people there visiting loved ones we would leave and come back later. I certainly wouldn't want to interrupt.

The last one we went to, we had to climb a barbed wire fence (with permission of course) and tromp through a field full of cows, to get to the little grove of trees surrounding the stones, so it's not like we were bothering any living people.

Personally, I don't think that I would really care who was at my gravesite or what they were doing, but who knows?

Edited to add: Regency, I can't wait to the pics of the cemetery you were talking about going to!

Edited September 13, 2007 by cyqe

[mytruebody]

i can't imagine why the dead would care, one way or another. if there is an afterlife, then chances are, they are probably not hanging around their place of burial, except maybe in the unlikely incident that they were buried alive or something. if there is no afterlife, then they are dead in the strictest sense of the word and it doesn't matter. rather than focusing on how the dead will react to your being there, i'd worry more about the living family members who might find your group's presence disrespectful. so you might want to have a speech prepared ahead of time, if you know what i mean.

[shantiel]

Hey there everyone,

I'm extremely new to this forum (just about a hour ago I joined) and I came on to get some insight into the world of the unknown as well as share some of my ideas. One thing I've been thinking long and hard about is paranormal investigation in cemeteries.

Just recently, I started a paranormal group. (We're so new in fact, we haven't decided upon a name). At the moment, I'm trying to get the newer members acclimated to investigating possibly haunted places. I would probably die of embarresment if one of my fellow investigators ran out of someone's house screaming because they saw a ghost. This brings my to my problem. I don't know of any super haunted locations that are accessible to put the newer members into (the founding members have all come from living in haunted houses, so we aren't less frightened). I was listening to an interview (god I can't remember where, I listen to as many as I can) and the guest gave the advice to fledgeling paranormal societies to put their members into cemeteries, because that way they can learn to deal with potentually frightning locations without having to deal with clients. This makes sense, but I'm not sure if morally its right to run into a cemetery and walk over someone's dead relaitives, just to learn how not to be scared.

I'd truly have to say that I'm not sure what to do. One side of me says it makes sense, the other says it's not right. What does everyone else think? Of course, finding a cemetery that will let you in after dark is always something to consider, so for the sake of this discussion, I'm leaving out the legal end of it. I would just like to see people's opinions as to whether they think that a group should do go into a cemetery or not?

Thank you very much and I just want to say that for only being a member for a few hours, I love the forum. One of the most informative ones I've seen.

Thanks,

~V

hahahaha...well, put it this way, if something does actually happen, then you know there really is something to be afraid of.

[spiridion]

I personally don't believe it's morally incorrect to investigate cemeteries. For one thing, they are generally open to the public. Secondly, you are not harming the graves or disrespecting anyones' dead relatives. I know people who like to have picnics in graveyards. Is this morally incorrect? I don't think so and I don't think much people would object.

Just one thing, you have to promise to post your pics here! I love looking for ghosts in photos. And welcome to UM!